The lively Fairy Tail guildhall that Houren had become so accustomed to over the past few days since he had returned to Magnolia was not the guildhall that he was currently in; that is, to say, that he was currently in the same guildhall where those very same guild members liked to party the night away, except the fact that very few of them seemed to be present in the guild building at the moment. It was a bit strange to Houren, but after questioning the ever present bartender for a moment, he was directed to the Magnolia streets where preparations for some sort of parade was going on. His calendar should have been up to date, and according to it, today was nothing more than a normal Thursday morning, so why were there so many people on the streets preparing for festivities? Judging by the broad smiles that seemed to be etched on everyone's faces, young, old, male, female, adult and child alike, it seemed like this was an event that everyone was really looking forward to. Even the grumpy local that Houren had butted heads with at times, and who always had a sour look on his face when the guild Fairy Tail was mentioned, had a neutral grin on his expression. He was coordinating well with a person who Houren did not know by name, but he was a member of Fairy Tail. It seemed like this grumpy middle aged man was able to put aside his distaste for Fairy Tail when it came to whatever festival they were preparing for.

If he was confused as to what was going on here though, Houren knew that all he had to do was ask. After all, he was a well known member of Fairy Tail and an outstanding citizen of Magnolia (although, due to the nature of his work, he often wasn't around). Still, he knew that many people in this town were able to recognize his face, and approaching one person, he asked them what all the fuss today was about. The person was beaming, and Houren's sudden question did not seem to do anything to dampen his mood at all. It was an overwhelming smile, and added with the cheery atmosphere that seemed to be around the place, Houren found himself smiling as well.

"Today is my daughter's birthday, dear boy! And what a splendid birthday it is going to be. Everyone is so nice, offering to help out like this. I'm using the streets for the party, so it wasn't as though I could have the preparations beforehand, but with all this muscle helping out, I feel like we will be done in no time! What say you, boy? Your arms are quite big, and you look free. I'll even pay you for your time," the man replied.

Houren thought about this proposition for a little bit. Truth be told, he didn't recognize this man but judging from his garb, he clearly seemed to be a noble of some sort, and a popular one at that which was incredibly uncommon. After all, wasn't it natural for the middle class and those in poverty to resent the wealthy? But this guy managed to even rope the sour, grumpy guy into helping him with the preparations for his daughter's birthday party. And he was even offering Houren money to help out, how could he possibly say so? In all honesty, he probably would have helped out with this birthday party if he had been asked and for free, but there was no way in hell that he was going to turn down employment. This way, he could call this a productive day at work instead of leisure. He rubbed his chin, making a show of contemplating his options, but in actuality, had already decided. "You got yourself a deal," he eventually said.

Medias, who's name was revealed to Houren immediately after accepting the deal, began to explain to the Fairy Tail mage what his job today would entail. "Great! he started, clapping both of his hands together as though he had just received the best news of his life. "But you're a late riser, huh? A lot of the stuff is already done, but I suppose there are still jobs that we could use you for. Look over there," Medias took a few steps to the right and began to point at a trash bag that was leaning against one of the tables. Houren peeked inside and noticed a bunch of party decorations, like streamers and banners and all that jazz. There were still a lot of things, from the looks of it, for them to put up. "All the party decorations are in there. Take some of the colorful decorations and hang them around the streets, if you please. I asked the local eateries to cook food for the event as well, and they're preparing it as we speak. Once you're done with the decorations, I'd appreciate it a lot if you could go into the restaurants, pick up the food and begin lining them up on the tables you see there. It's going to be a buffet party," Medias said proudly as though he were the chief organizer of this event. Oh well, as far as Houren knew, he probably was the chief organizer and everyone else was just the help.

He gave the noble, popular man who's name was Medias a positive thumbs up, as though to reassure the man that he could count on Houren. "You Fairy Tail mages are always so helpful," he finished dreamily as he drifted off to continue whatever job he was doing, which seemed to be supervising everyone else. Now that Houren thought about it, he remembered the name Medias from somewhere, he was likely one of the local people who were major benefactors of the Fairy Tail guild. With that in mind, it was no wonder that the people of Fairy Tail seemed to so eager to help him out with preparations for his daughter's birthday, but at the same time, Houren was surprised that the grumpy old man had actually agreed to help a person who affiliated himself with the guild; he must have really been a good man.

1043/2000

There were many decorations that Houren was required to put up and after putting up at least two or three dozen of them, he came to realize that a lot of these decorations were not brand new, but rather, seemed to have been donated by various people. He even found a severely wound pinata that was sewn back together by a woman's gentle hand. It was not in Houren's nature to extol people too much, but judging by popularity alone, this Mr. Medias could easily have been the most powerful man in all of Magnolia. Houren, in particular, was actually beginning to feel a little bit guilty that he had not recognized him earlier, but he was sure that Mr. Medias would understand. After all, the Fire Dragon Slayer had only been in Magnolia for the past few days, and he had been wandering around Crocus, Era and Hargeon recently. He didn't have the time or the means to keep up with the current events in Magnolia, and definitely could not have known the birthday of a little girl of a man that he did not even know. He looked over to where Medias was, the man stood out even in this large ground and from here, Houren could see that he was conversing with some people who were obviously volunteers.

Deciding to stop slacking, Houren bent down to look at the trash bag and saw that there was quite literally only one decoration left; a balloon with a picture of a cake on it with seven candles adorning the cake, which implied that this was Medias' daughter 7th birthday. It was funny, judging by how extravagant this whole event was going to be, Houren has assumed that it was going to be his daughter's sweet sixteen or twenty first. If the girl's seventh birthday was this fancy though, he couldn't wait to see what her sweet sixteen or twenty first would be like; maybe he could help out and attend that party as well? Although he would have been a much older man in his 30s by then. Since this balloon with a cake picture on it was the last decoration that he had to put up for the day, Houren decided that he would take his time with it, tying a perfect knot on the chair to keep the balloon in place. After finishing that, he took a step back and took another moment or two to admire his work. Once he was satisfied with his balloon tying, Houren approached another man, greeting him cheerfully and inquiring as to what restaurants Medias had contracted to prepare food for the party, so that Houren could go and collect it. The man that Houren approached took a second to think about it, but it seemed like he couldn't remember the names of the restaurants off by heart. Instructing the Fairy Tail mage to wait a moment, the man that Houren had approached walked off and eventually came back a while later with a piece of paper with the names of the restaurants handwritten on it. "These are all the restaurants that Medias asked to help out. Go to them, and the people there should tell you what you need to bring here. Thanks for waiting," he forced the slip of paper into Houren's hands before walking off again to continue his work, which seemed to be decorating the cake with icing.

Houren rushed into the first shop, where the food that was prepared had already been set up on the table with a note attached to it to show that it was there for Medias' daughter's birthday party. Nobody seemed to be present in the holding area, and the people in the kitchen seemed to be busy, so Houren simply grabbed the food and went outside to place it on one of the tables, leaving some plastic cutlery and plates at the area too for when the party would begin. He continued to do this three or four times before other people began to help him and once this trend of helping each other out got underway, Houren's job was finished before he knew it. Humming happily to himself, the Fairy Tail magus decided that his next course of action should be to see Medias again which is exactly what he did. The noble who's daughter's birthday was today greeted Houren warmly and informed that the party would be starting in roughly under an hour and that everyone who helped out in the preparations was invited, and of course, that meant Houren would be welcomed at the party as well.

"Or could it be that you're not interested in this party int he slightest? Is that true, my boy? It's not like I have any intentions to force you or anything, but in case you decide not to stick around, let me pay you first," Medias dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the money that was owed to Houren, something that he accepted graciously. He could have taken the money after the party, but after all, the Fairy Tail mage was still somewhat undecided as to whether he wanted to stick around for a child's birthday party. The money that he had been given was enough to sustain him for the day, and if he finished today without having done anything else he could still call it productive. In that respect, wouldn't it do him a world of good if he had some fun now?

"I'll think about it," Houren murmured dryly, as he slowly began to make his exit from the streets and back to the Fairy Tail guildhall. Perhaps he would come back to the party later on to enjoy himself, but first, he would put his money in his room.

2009/2000